Report: Victoria Beckham puts her NBC reality show on hold for family

By Christopher Rocchio, 06/04/2007

Family comes before fame and fortune -- even if you're former Spice Girl Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, who has reportedly put filming her six-episode NBC docu-reality series on hold because her soccer-star husband David Beckham has been recalled from their new home in Los Angeles to play for the English national soccer team.

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"It is unlikely that the program will proceed as planned," a "source" toldPeople Friday. "It might end up being a one-hour special instead of a series."

While the U.K.'s Daily Mirrorreported Friday that Victoria "walked out" of shooting the series, a source denied to People that was the case.

"She hasn't pulled out but has decided to put David and her children first," the source told People. "Victoria was supposed to go back to L.A. this week and next week but has canceled. What that means is that out of a very tight four or five-week filming schedule, half of it is lost."

In February it was reported that Victoria signed a multimillion-dollar deal with NBC to host her own reality show, slightly more than a month after her husband signed a $250 million deal to leave Europe's Real Madrid and play for Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy. In early March NBC confirmed 19 Entertainment -- the company run by Beckham manager and American Idol creator Simon Fuller -- would produce the series that would focus on the family's move from England to the States and how they're adjusting to American life.

"The series will give viewers a glimpse into what makes Victoria so popular and admired as one of the most glamorous women in the world," now-former NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly said during the network's "upfront" presentation of its 2007-08 primetime lineup to advertisers in mid-May, according to the Daily Mirror.

With David's last game for Real Madrid scheduled for June 17, he and his family had already purchased a $22 million house in Beverly Hills, according to People, with a good portion of the cross-Atlantic move already completed. The couple had planned to reside in the home with their three children beginning in mid-July, People reported, with the NBC reality series slated to premiere in the fall. However David was called back to his family's native England to play for the national team, putting Victoria in a bind between supporting her husband and continuing to film the series.

"Victoria is always happy to fulfil her obligations and she'll fly out at the end of June to do another week's filming. But that will only give the network about half an hour's footage on top of the half hour they shot last month," a source told the Daily Mirror. "Vic is fiercely loyal to David - the whole move to Los Angeles was for him and his career in the first place. She was in tears when she heard he'd been recalled to the England squad as she knew that was his ultimate dream. She had a real laugh during the initial filming of the series last month... But there is absolutely no way she'd have sacrificed being there [for David]... regardless of how much it would help her profile in the U.S."

Needless to say, the status of Victoria's reality series is currently being decided upon by NBC executives, according to People.

"Victoria had great fun filming and she had to make a decision about family or TV," her spokeswoman told People. "It is up to the network what happens next."